People with abdominal adiposity at increased risk of psoriasis

Korea: People with abdominal adiposity or belly fat are at increased risk of developing a chronic skin disorder called psoriasis, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Dermatology.

Psoriasis is a common, chronic inflammatory disease of the skin caused by the overactive immune system. The disease can involve nails, joints and skin, and is also known to be associated with a range systemic comorbidities including stroke, high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome, hyperlipidemia, and obesity. There seems to be a strong association between psoriasis, obesity and metabolic disorders as demonstrated by some of the previous studies. However, no study till now has established a precise nature of the association and its mechanism.

Ju Hee Han, from the Seoul St. Mary's Hospital in South Korea and colleagues conducted this nationwide population‐based prospective cohort study to investigate the impact of body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) on psoriasis.

For the purpose, the researchers used national data to identify patients newly diagnosed with psoriasis who had undergone health screening between 2009 and 2012 and were followed for five years. The researchers found that among the total population of 22,633,536 individuals, 399,461 had newly developed psoriasis.

Also Read: More the obesity,higher is risk of Psoriasis,finds PLOS study

Key findings of the study include:

• A higher risk for psoriasis was seen among patients with body mass index (BMI) >30 kg/m² versus those with BMI from 18.5 to 23 kg/m².


• There was a dose-dependent association between waist circumference (WC) and psoriatic risk, with patients having a WC >105 cm showing the highest risk for psoriasis compared with patients with WC <75 to 80 cm, after adjusting for confounding factors, including BMI.


• Men with normal BMI and abdominal obesity had the highest risk for psoriasis.

Also Read: Severe Psoriasis Linked to Increased Risk of Death

Findings of the study indicate that waist circumference is a significant risk factor for psoriasis highlighting the association between abdominal obesity and psoriasis. Thus, abdominal obesity plays an important role in the pathogenesis and comorbidities of psoriasis," the authors write.

To read the complete study log on to https://doi.org/10.1111/1346-8138.14939